From Wells and Scrolls
by YumeMori
Summary: Kagome was prepared to head back to Inuyasha...until she heard that silly little "jutsu" dragging her into-well, she wasn't sure she'd ever know where she ended up. She did know that she despised the word "summon". Naruto/Kagome.
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** I claim no ownership of _Sengoku Otogizoushi - InuYasha _or _Naruto__. _for they belong to Takahashi Rumiko and Kishimoto Masashi, respectively, along with many other companies. I am only borrowing their characters and settings and plots; they shall be returned in their original condition when I'm done. _I swear_.

* * *

_From Wells and Scrolls  
_Written for HalfBlackWolfDemon for the prompt: "Special Summoning Technique"_**  
**_

* * *

Three years. She had waited three years for this moment—the moment of return.

Of course, she had not been _anxiously_ awaiting as it had been a choice—_her_ choice—not to return. Naraku had been defeated, the shikon no tama wished out of existence, and Kikyō had been laid to rest. To stay or return would be a permanent decision. And she owed Mama, Sōta and Jīchan enough to stay and get her degree. So she stayed. So she gave them three years worth of her constant presence.

Now that that was done, and she had three years worth of goodbyes, she could focus on another adventure. One called "love".

And so—

"Inuyasha...I want to be with you."

"It's been awhile since I've found you in here, Kagome," her mother said.

For some reason, she was not startled. It had been this way for a while for her; she would almost say that she was depressed to the point of where nothing could really startle her anymore. And perhaps it was true. She did not turn to look at her mother as she walked down the stairs, instead she leaned more of her weight into her arms against the lip of the well.

"Mama. I think—"

And then, she could see the sky shining brightly in the bottom of the well, calling to her, responding to her desire to return. All it would take now is just one little hop.

"It's OK, Kagome," her mother said as she touched Kagome's shoulder. "We all understand. If you want to go, then you should."

She turned and embraced her mother for what could be—and was, in truth, she knew—the last time. Mothers could not follow where she wanted to go.

"Mama...thank you."

Kagome let go of her mother and turned back to the well after far too short a time. Yet there was nothing else that needed to be said.

She hopped over the edge of the well with rusty ease—three years for her body, yet the action was too fond for her to ever forget—and embraced the adrenaline of free-falling into magic for the last time. Never looking back, only forward for the first time.

It took less than a minute for her to slip through time, yet she was only able to experience five seconds worth of familiar warm magic before it turned cold. It pulled and sucked at her navel and head, dragging her somewhere else. Ten seconds and the sky of the sengoku jidai disappeared from in front of her, and she tried to scream but found the sound sucked from her lungs.

_"Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu—Ichiko no Nippon."_

..._What_?

It sounded like something out of one of her little brother's silly ninja video games. Despite the foolish words spoken with a feminine lilt, the pressure pulling her by her stomach and head increased, and she could almost feel herself being dragged through...through...whatever this magic was, if it was even magic. That was when an entirely different cold weight settled in her stomach: dread.

_Ichiko_—that was definitely her. In every way, no matter how she wanted to deny it.

_Nippon_—and that was definitely where she lived.

Oh, this just spelled out disaster. Especially since Inuyasha would never be able to come looking for her, and her family now believed her to be safe in the sengoku jidai. No one would even know what happened to her.

She clawed at the magic—whatever it was surrounding her—hoping desperately for something to grab onto, only to come back with nothing but aching arms.

Thirty seconds, and it all came to a jolting halt.

The magic that brought her to wherever "here" was faded, along with the darkness. It was nothing but swirling colors, rushing wind, and far too much dizzying pain and a possibly concussion bombarding her from every direction.

"It's a person!"

It was the first thing Kagome heard over her vertigo and pounding ears. The voice was feminine and seemed nice enough—and she liked to think she knew a thing or two about "nice enough" voices from her time spent in the sengoku jidai. Yet she could not for the life of her focus her eyes enough to catch a glimpse of anything. Everything was heavy and swirling, and she had a feeling she would hurl the second her eyes focused.

"No... It's a _girl_."

This voice was definitely male and rough, as though he had taken a blow to the throat before. Yet his aura showed a different possibility.

She felt the ground beneath her for the first time, and her stomach lurched. And for the first time in what seemed to be an eternity, her eyes finally focused instead of seeming to roll around in their orbitals.

It was funny. She could not remember Shippō having such a face, or whiskers, or blue hair—

"Hey! Her eyes are open! Just what kind of lame summon is this?"

And then she was simply too exhausted and achey to care anymore about faces, auras, and trying not to vomit.

* * *

_This was originally going to be a one-shot, but then I decided to break it up into small chapters. Each chapter will be around this length, and there most likely will be between five-to-ten chapters. I haven't forgotten my other stories, and they will be updated tomorrow, along with this one and some new ones. So sorry about the long wait, but when one is grieving... Well... One is grieving._

**Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu—Ichiko no Nippon**: lit. Reverse Summoning Technique—City/Market Child (AKA: another title for Miko) of The Sun's Origin (AKA: Japan)

**_Like it? Love it? Hate it? Abhor it? Let me know; I promise I don't bite!_**


	2. Chapter Two

_From Wells and Scrolls  
_Written for HalfBlackWolfDemon for the prompt: "Special Summoning Technique"_**  
**_

* * *

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her tired eyes, chafing the already raw sclera. It was far too late at night, and she was far too sober to be dealing with a problem like this. The pale dark-haired woman laying in front of her on one of her hospital beds that she was sure would be needed in the morning given the way most missions outside of Konohagakure went was unconscious. Had been, apparently, for a good three hours if what Sakura reported was correct. Honestly, could she not send Team Seven on some mission to some remote part of the world without them coming back with some mess on their hands?

They were worse than Jiraiya—at least he had the decency to come back with women, booze, and...other things... She still wondered if he had that nasty _itch_ when he died.

Though, she mused, it could be much worse. At least they only came back with a woman who, though mysterious, would not be bringing death to Konoha and its people. Summons were a tricky business, but at least when they came from another world, they came alone.

"Go over what happened one more time. And tell me you were at least thinking enough to bring the scroll with you." She directed her statement at Naruto, as he had gabbed out the story first in haphazard bits, and—as this was _Naruto_—she had no doubts this situation was all his doing.

"Don't look at me! I didn't do it—ttebayo. Sakura-chan did."

She raised an eyebrow at this while crossing her arms and pinning the entirety of Team Seven with her best "fess up already" look. Though Sakura did look guilty and punch Naruto in the head a little too _quickly_, this entire situation still had Naruto's name all over it. Sasuke and Sai glanced at each other, the former rolling his eyes.

"_Ow!_ Sonova—why'd you hit me so hard, Sakura-chan!" Naruto nursed his new lump on his head, and Tsunade fought off the urge to follow the Uchiha's lead and roll her eyes.

After so many years, she knew this stalling technique far too well. Thankfully, so did the Uchiha.

"Because you're a moron, loser," Sasuke interrupted. "As he said earlier, we _were_ on our way back. And because the idiot drank all his water within _minutes_ of us leaving Suna, he demanded we stop at a nearby well. Just like his luck with directions, it was a _dry_ well—"

"—Fuck you, you bastard—"

"—Yet he didn't believe it. So he jumped in."

Such briefings were what came with the package known as Team Seven. It still surprised Tsunade how well she was able to navigate such blatant antagonism between its members without forgetting what Sasuke was saying. She felt as if she finally understood why Sarutobi always smoked at these kind of things. And why his tobacco budget doubled after Team Seven became genin.

"At the bottom, he found this scroll," Sakura said, handing over the summoning scroll in question. "We knew it wasn't like other summoning scrolls, and... Well..."

"You wanted to try it out," Tsunade finished. Yep, definitely had Naruto's machinations all over it. "Why did you do it, Sakura? I expected this out of Naruto, or, hell, even Uchiha or Sai."

"M'n'Sasuke already have summons—ttebayo," Naruto said, and for once in the past hour showed off his intelligence.

Sai shrugged. "I don't think I have enough chakra required to make a successful summon."

Yet Sakura only looked away and tugged at the hem of her shirt. Had this summon been an animal and not a human, Tsunade would not care. Her actions said more than words could, and she knew how Sakura must feel as she had been the girl who could not catch up to her male teammates for years as well.

Instead of pressing her more for answers, she opened the scroll to see what it contained and just what kind of summon this was supposed to be. She glanced up at Naruto for only a second with a sly smile. "That still doesn't explain why you smell and look like you crawled out of a gutter in the red light district after a night of hard partying."

And she liked to think she knew more than a thing or two about _those_ kinds of nights.

She could hear Naruto sputter—the beginnings of a long and loud tirade, she was more than sure—as his teammates and friends tried—and _failed_—to hide their laughter.

"She opened her eyes only once, once she was successfully summoned. Upon seeing Naruto's face, she had the urge to vomit. And proceeded to do so."

"Screw you, too, Sai! You're just jealous you don't have my looks!"

Even she had to smile at their bantering. To anyone who did not know this team or what they had been through the past five years, it would seem like they hated each other with a passion. Yet, she had been there throughout everything they had gone through the past five years, and she could hear the undertones to their quips. Teasing, tormenting, berating, cursing—all were their ways of showing affection to each other because that was simply the relationship they all had. And hell had no fury like theirs against anyone outside their group who said those things to one of them.

Yet the words on the scroll fast removed her smile. She just knew this was not going to be something easily fixed.

And, at the same time, she could honestly say this situation did not even make the top five on her list of strange and/or horrible things to happen in and/or around Konohagakure involving Naruto. Hell, it just barely cracked the top twenty. She did not know what this said about either Konoha, Naruto, herself or her luck, or even if it was good or bad given that she had only been Hokage for the last five years.

"Naruto, Uchiha... Did neither of you learn the different between Kuchiyose no Jutsu and Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu?"

Naruto's look was so blank that it looked unnatural when he only blinked at her. Sasuke stiffened.

And she could only shake her head. Honestly, what did they learn from her teammates and their summons? How to use their ninja skills for everything they should not?

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu is the typical summoning technique. It's used by us to summon those we've made a pact with from their world. Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu is a summoning technique that was specifically designed to be used by summons to summon their summoner."

Sakura paled, catching onto her meaning.

"So... What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto scratched his head; even though she had condensed the explanation as much as she could, it still went pretty much over his head.

"It's not meant to be used by humans," Sakura said.

"Exactly. I bet the sister scroll to this one is in her world. How, or why, this scroll is in ours is a mystery I don't think we'll ever figure out."

"If that's the case, Tsunade-sama," Sai said, "why would it drag her into this world? Should it not be able to do that?"

She shook her head. "I honestly don't know. I've never heard of something like this happening before, and I don't think it has either." Tsunade sighed once more and looked to the woman possibly stuck in their world forever now. "She should wake in the morning, or before then. Sakura, I expect you to take care of her, since you did summon her. Even if I know it was Naruto's idea to do it."

"Of course," Sakura said, glaring at Naruto. Tsunade had a feeling she was going to rope Naruto into helping her out, if that look on her face was anything to go by.

All she knew is that she was in definite need of a cup of hot sake if she was going to survive not only explaining to the council this situation, but trying to figure out the mess of paperwork this was going to be.

* * *

**_Like it? Love it? Hate it? Abhor it? Let me know; I promise I don't bite!_**


	3. Chapter Three

_From Wells and Scrolls_

Written for HalfBlackWolfDemon for the prompt: "Special Summoning Technique"

* * *

The bed sheets were a kind of clean that seemed too new to have been used before. There were children laughing, and a breeze snuck in that smelt of summer: greenery, mugicha, and sunshine. A town in the throes of an early summer morning. Kagome knew this was not her home, and it was not her bed. Just as she knew it also was not the feudal era, nor Kaede's home. She didn't know where she was or exactly how she ended up there, all she remember was that strange spell pulling her away from what was to be _her_ happy ending.

After all, was that not how it went in every story? That the hero might follow their own path of their own free will toward their own happiness? Was the ending of a tale not supposed to end with them being selfish for once and at the right time? And most importantly, had she not given enough to end the shikon's long story with love finally prevailing?

For the first time in years, Kagome felt a tear slide down her face. She held onto the sheets beneath her until her knuckles turned white as the sobs she couldn't hold back anymore came tumbling out. It wasn't fair. "This wasn't supposed to happen… It's not…not fair."

For the first time ever, Kagome cried against destiny, against the cruelty of hope, and for selfishness.

* * *

Sakura leaned against the door to her bedroom, a breakfast tray held securely in her hands. She was a skilled shinobi with exceptional chakra control, yet she wished more than anything to have a civilian's sense of hearing at that moment. The cries were soft, would have been unheard to anyone with no chakra training, yet they echoed in Sakura's mind. The heavy weight of guilt pressed against her breast just as real and steady as the tray digging into her palms.

No, it wasn't fair. She was a selfish person, she admitted that to herself a long time ago. But she was fine with that. Whatever it took to be with her boys, right?

Yet she never meant to ruin someone else's life. She never meant to drag an innocent person into her world simply because she couldn't pass up the opportunity to be the same as them: a summoner. The bond and strength between a shinobi and their summon was legend. She had been selfish. And that young woman had suffered for it.

And she would own up to it. As Tsunade had told her, she would take care of her. After all, it was the duty of the summoner to care for their summon, no matter the circumstances that brought them together.

So Sakura put a smile on, turned and knocked thrice on her door. She said, "Good morning! I hope you don't mind that I made breakfast." And then she entered. While Sakura may not know anything about the woman she was now responsible for, she knew she wouldn't want anyone walking in and seeing her cry. Not friends, and especially not a stranger.

Sure enough when Sakura finally entered, it was to a bright-eyed woman whose only sign of her earlier grief was a hint of red to her nose. The girl smiled back, pausing just long enough to assess her and the earlier greeting. It was strange, to be glanced at so quickly and yet so thoroughly by someone she was sure was not a ninja. Sakura almost didn't hear her reply to her greeting.

She set the tray on top of the bed, before sitting down at the end. "I don't know what you remember, but I want you to know I didn't kidnap you or anything like that." Sakura almost winced, but she was never really one to beat around the bush.

The girl only smiled wider. "I know. While I was just about to leave to be with my…friends, I heard something. Something about a summon…technique?"

Sakura couldn't help her blush. "That was me. I didn't know it would summon a person. I thought it was going to be an animal. And I know I couldn't ever apologize enough for what grief this may cause you or your family."

But the girl only waved off her apology. "It's fine," she said. For a second, Sakura swore she felt a wave of sadness that couldn't possibly be her own fill her up until she felt like crying. "No one will even know I'm gone."

"I'm sure that's not true. From my experience, families always love each other. And miss each other."

"I know."

Then she smiled. It was genuine, as if she knew hers did, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on. She didn't know how she could be so sure her family wouldn't miss her, yet knew they loved her at the same time. And while she was used to bugging someone until they told her, she knew she only did that with friends and patients. This girl was neither. So her questions could wait until another day, another time when they knew each other better.

For now, Sakura would be content to wait. She would watch and see what she could discern on her own, and then hopefully ask when they knew each other.

When the other woman had almost finished her breakfast, Sakura spoke again. "By the way, I'm—"

"SAKURA-CHAN~"

Both women jumped as Naruto swung into her room and onto the bed from her open window. Without missing a beat, Sakura punched him in the face and right off her bed. She rolled her eyes at his whines about how mean she was, yet she didn't miss the way the woman had reached to her side as if going for a weapon. Again, another question for another day.

But as quickly as she reached for a weapon that wasn't there, her surprise turned to concern as she leaned over the bed to check on the idiot. Sakura just sighed. "He's fine. I barely hit him." And really, he should be glad that she wasn't twelve anymore. And that she didn't use chakra.

Naruto sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He offered a grin to the unknown woman, but Sakura noticed how she couldn't keep her eyes off his stomach. It was almost like she knew—but, no. That was impossible. Only a sage could detect that.

"Right, sorry. I forgot she was here. 'M'Naruto. Pleased t'meet ya!"

For the first time since she walked in that morning, Sakura saw a true smile grace the girl's face. It was soft and warm and small, but undeniably fond. She could only shake her head and smile herself; Naruto's charisma was at it again.

"I'm Kagome. Nice to meet you, too."

"As I was trying to say before knuckle-head here barged in,"

"—Hey! I just wanted—"

"I'm Sakura."

"—to see if you wanted to train with us."

Sakura turned on him then. "And did _you_ forget that you're supposed to be _helping_ me help her!?"

He chuckled and rubbed his head again. "Umm, yes?"

_Typical Naruto_. She growled, almost playfully as they were so used to this routine by now, and raised her fist. He could stop her if he wanted, she knew, but he never did. It was just their relationship.

But this time, they both stopped at the sound of laughter. She looked over and saw Kagome with her hands covering her mouth as she laughed.

"She's welcome to come, too, 'ttebayo! It's summer! No need to stay cooped up in inside!"

She only shook her head. "But she just woke up. And I haven't explained—"

"If it's all right," Kagome said, "I wouldn't mind. And we could talk while we walk, right?"

"Yup!" Naruto turned to Sakura then, eyes big. "Whaddya say, Sakura-chan?"

She could only smile and shake her head. "I can't entirely say no to that logic."

As Naruto fist-pumped the air and hopped about, and Kagome watched on laughing, Sakura couldn't help but feel like this just might be the start of a friendship they all needed in their lives.

* * *

_I'm so sorry for the long wait. But...life happens. Between work, being unofficially engaged, getting my second degree, and trying to close a loved one's estate are all all-consuming things. I'm so glad you all have been enjoying this story, and I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. To clear up a few things:_

_1. Tsunade has been Hokage for five years, which puts that rookie nine at around 17-18. I gave the war arc a happy ending as Sasuke is back in the village and relatively well-adjusted given everything. Kagome is also about 18-19 at this point._

_2. Sakura won't be a bitch in this story. Yes, Sakura uses violence but that's mainly because that's who she is: a blunt, direct person. Training under Tsunade didn't help this. But she has grown up, just as she did in the manga. (I really only use manga versions of the characters because I can't watch anime.) Her acts of violence with Naruto are just acts of habit, but she's actually less violent than Kagome used to be with Inuyasha. Character development, it has happened to both girls._

_3. I don't use the fanon ideas of "inner beasts" or "mating". No one in Naruto is actually and truly a "demon/youkai". And I prefer not to do "matings" as they are usually an extremely unhealthy co-dependent relationship. The only time I will do that is if I'm deconstructing the idea._

_4. I'm not review-driven, won't ever hold chapters hostage for reviews, nor do I write purely for reviews. These chapters are short because this was originally a one-shot, but I broke it up into smaller, easier-to-read chunks. Each chapter ends at a scene break, where it seemed best to end a chapter. I'm sorry if it comes off as me fishing for reviews, because I'm really not._

_And, as always, don't be afraid to let me know if you liked or hated this._


End file.
